Soft Pretzels

Uncle Matt's Saturday specialty.

What's a 4 letter word for hooters that ends in s? Oh! Owls.

I like making pretzels when I get up on a Saturday that I don't have anything to do.  They make great snacks over the weekend.  The 2 rising periods give me a chance to attack the NY Times Saturday crossword.  I haven't come up with a great cheese sauce yet, but I eat 'em plain or with a little mustard.  I will put the best cheese sauce that I have made at the bottom of the recipe.

You'll need;

• 16 oz (by weight) of all purpose (AP) flour
• 1 cup of warm water (95F-115F)
• 1/4 cup cool  water
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup baking soda (for the pre-bake boil)
• 1 egg yolk (for the wash)
• Coarse salt (opt)

Combine the warm water and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer.  Sprinkle the yeast on top and stir.  Wait 5 to 15 minutes to proof the yeast. (No sense making dough if it ain't gonna rise) A little foam on the top indicates that the yeast has taken the bait.

Add the flour, salt and oil and attach the dough hook.  Run on slow speed until a dough ball forms.  If it is too loose then add a bit of flour, if too sticky add some of the cool water.  Add enough water so that the dough includes all the flour but doesn't stick to the bowl.

I only had to add 1 Tbsp of cool water to get perfect dough.

Knead on med speed for 4-5 minutes.  If you are doing this by hand you will be getting a workout.

Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and clean out the mixer bowl.  Dry it and oil it lightly.

Return the dough to the oiled bowl, cover with a towel and put it in a warm place to rise for 45-60 minutes.

The oven is the safest place.

Doubled in size.

Divide the dough into 8 equal portions (for big pretzels) or 12 portions (for smaller ones -- I never make the smaller ones).

On a non-floured surface roll the portions out into ropes at least 24 in long.  Form the ropes into a "U" shape and then cross the ends to make a pretzel shape.  If you can't imagine this, go to your local Auntie Em's and watch them for a New York minute.  It aint hard.

You need to roll them out further than you think 'cus they spring back.

Even though this looks right, it will make the "fat baby" style pretzel.

Place the proto-pretzels onto a greased, insulated cookie sheet, or onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  Rest again for 45-60 minutes.

See, they puffed up again.  Roll 'em thinner to avoid this.

Preheat your oven to 450F.  Dissolve the baking soda in 5-8 cups of water in a pot.  Bring to a boil and dip each pretzel into the soda water for at least 30 sec.

Let drip and return to cookie sheet. In the interest of full disclosure, I have always had trouble with my pretzels sticking because the water washes away the oil on the cookie sheet.  Use a baking mat or parchment paper for best results.

Not the same pretzel that I showed in the water.

Whisk the egg yolk with a tablespoon of water and brush over the tops of the pretzels.

Sprinkle coarse salt on the pretzels that you want salted and bake for 12 minutes.

I would salt all of them, but D likes 'em unsalted.

Let 'em cool at least 5 minutes before you stick 'em in your mouf.

Added Bonus!  Here's the cheese sauce.

You'll need;

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1-1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• salt, pepper and cayenne

Melt the butter in a sauce pan and whisk in the flour. You're making roux.  Cook the roux long enough to remove the raw flour taste (~2 min), but don't scorch it.

Remove from heat and add the milk.  Season with a pinch of salt, some twists of pepper and one shake of cayenne.  Whisk thoroughly and return to heat.  Bring to a boil while stirring constantly.

Reduce the heat and add in the cheese a little at a time.

Once all the cheese is in and melted you are done!

Steamed Sea Bass w/Black Bean Paste

That's Black COD.

Originally I thought that this recipe used Black Cod, but no, it was Chilean Sea Bass.  The two fish are similar so go ahead and substitute.

Nobu Matsuhisa is a helluva chef.  One of the best meals of my life was at Nobu's New York restaurant.  It was my birthday and I had the top-tier omakase menu.  Far from all sushi dishes, this 8 course tasting menu hit all the parts of his menu.  This particular dish was excellent and also featured in his first cookbook.  I don't know whether his black bean paste was plain or the one I got was flavored, but his recipe needed serious modification to be palatable.  Here's the version that I make.

You'll need;

• 4 fillets of fish (you choose)
• pepper
• 4 Tbsp Chinese Black Bean Paste
• 4 oz sake plus 4 oz of water
• ginger spears
• chives cut into spears
• 8 Tbsp olive oil mixed with 2 Tbsp sesame oil
• 2 cups of white rice steamed.

Ignore the wine behind the the olive oil.  It was standing in for the sake.

Make the rice and let it stay warm in the cooker or pot.  This recipe goes quick and you'll need the rice to sop up the sauce and temper the taste.

Peel the ginger, cut off any dried areas and cut into spears about 3 in long. Matchstick thickness or less if you have da skilz.  Cut chives about 5 in long and cut them again lengthwise.  This opens up the chive a bit and reduces its strength.

Set the fish fillets skin side down and grind a little pepper on each fillet.

Smear 1 Tbsp of black bean paste on each fillet. Take it easy here, this stuff imparts a lot of garlic and salt if you overdo it.  If the fish has a slope to it, pile more on the top as it will run a bit during the steaming phase.

That is really more black bean paste than you should use.

Place fish in a steamer basket and put the sake and water into the bottom of a pot.

Bring sake to a boil and place the basket in the pot.  Cover and steam for 10 minutes. No peeking!

Put the oil mixture in a small skillet and heat to nearly smoking.

Remove the basket and leave the liquid in the pot.  It will have been flavored by the bean paste and fish. 

Place each piece of fish in a heat-proof serving bowl and top with the ginger and chive spears. I wasn't feeling artistic but it still tasted good. I put the ginger along the axis of the fish and the chive across.

It is weird not to be doing this in the bowl it will be served in.

Drizzle or spoon the oil mixture over the fish to cook the chives and ginger.  Don't use more than 2 Tbsp oil per fillet. The chive will wilt and drape down the sides of the fish and the ginger will smell heavenly.

Nobu does this on a dish other than the serving dish.  He prefers that the oil not be part of the liquid below.  I love the mix of the oil and the steaming liquid.  So here's what I did.  I made one with the full oil in the bottom of the serving bowl (to which I added the steaming liquid), one where I poured off most of the oil before adding the liquid, and the last where I did the oil thing on another bowl, then plated (bowled?) with just the steaming liquid.  You decide which looks best.  I'll report which tasted best.

This one had the full 2Tbsp of oil in the bottom of the pan before the liquid was added.

This little piggy had half the oil removed before the liquid was added.

This one was without residual oil.  Looks good, but no one wanted to eat it so I added oil to serve.

Add the reserved steaming liquid to the bottoms of each bowl.  Enough to cover the bottom, but not so much that you need SCUBA gear to eat your meal.

Add garnish if it is a fancy occasion.  I put a wad of pickled ginger (gari) in the bowl sometimes.  Dusting with sesame seeds might look nice too.  To eat, either lift the fish off the skin or tip the fish over and remove the skin before eating.  Add a wad of rice to the bowl to soak up any leftover liquid.  The 10 minute steam really preserves a moist yet flaky texture.

I could use some suggestions on how to pretty this up.  Maybe an Emeril-like dusting of some spice around the edge of the bowl?  A turnip cut like a rose?  I dunno.  I'm usually so hungry by the time this is done that I inhale it like a prisoner. Oh, the one with the full oil tasted the best, but the reduced oil one was healthier and still tasted pretty good.  I ask you, what is one Tbsp of oil in the grand scheme of things?

Tomato Soup

Beats the stuffin' out of Campbell's!

I make this all the time now.  Stolen from Chef John and modified, his use of rice to thicken it is nothing short of awesome.

You'll need;

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion (half a big onion)
• 1/2 cup each chopped celery and carrots
• 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 1 qt chicken broth
• 1 28oz can of San Marzano tomatoes (use lesser tomatoes at your peril)
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp long grain rice (I use Jasmine)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp butter
• chopped basil for garnish
• (opt) splash of sherry

In a stock pot over medium heat sweat the onions with a pinch of salt.

Add the carrot and celery and sweat some more.

Add the garlic for a minute (don't brown the garlic)

Add the chicken broth and tomatoes and bring to a simmer for 5-10 minutes.  If you forgot to crush the tomatoes, do so now in the pot with the back of a spoon, but go slow or wear a red shirt.

Season with salt, pepper, sugar, paprika and cayenne. Add the 3 Tbsp rice and bring to a low simmer.

Simmer for 45 minutes and skim if too much foam appears. (I don't skim, I stir it back in)

Taste for seasoning.  I usually need to add a bit of salt and pepper.

Using an immersion blender puree the soup.  Be careful to keep the blades down to avoid redecorating your kitchen.  If you don't have an immersion blender (stick blender) and don't want to get one, you can use a blender to puree the soup.  However, you must let it cool a bit, you must do it in small batches, and you must be very careful.  I don't recommend it. 

After the soup is smooth as a baby's posterior add the cream and 2 Tbsp butter. Also add the optional splash of Sherry for a hint of British flavor. Heat through and taste for any final seasoning. Garnish with chopped basil and a swirl of cream if you are serving guests.

This soup freezes well and reheats from frozen in a microwave well making it the ultimate lunch soup.  Once you have this you will not want to go back to the can.